Search Continues For Missing 14-Year Old Walnut Ridge, AR Girl

(Walnut Ridge, AR) The search continues for a 14-year old girl from Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, missing since Sunday morning.

Sidney Nicole Randall was believed to have been with her stepfather, 38-year old John Cornell.

Cornell’s body was found Monday afternoon in Lawrence County.

He died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot which has resulted in an increased sense of urgency to find Sidney.

Monday, Denise Cornell’s voice trembled during an emotional message to her 14-year old daughter, “Sidney, I love you. and I am praying that I am going to get you back.”

The teenager disappeared early Sunday morning and was believed to have been with John Cornell, her stepfather.

But after Cornell was found dead Monday afternoon, hope turned to despair for Sidney’s family and friends like Kearney Leona, “He was the only way we could find Sidney, because he was the only one who knows where she is. And now we don’t have any leads on where she could be, at all.”

Those efforts resemble a small army made up of lawmen, rescue squads and volunteers from every part of Walnut Ridge and Lawrence County.

They combed the area where John Cornell’s body was found, but have found no trace of the girl.

Investigators even returned to the teenager’s home Tuesday to search her bedroom.

Pam Parsons, who spoke Tuesday for the family, says maybe a fresh clue will lead to Sidney, “They’re following every single lead that they can get a hold of. They’re looking at every little piece of paper they can find. And we’re helping them by letting them have the full range of her room.”

She says Sidney’s room will be ready for her when she returns.

Meantime, it seems no one Walnut Ridge is untouched by the 14-year old’s disappearance.

Tildon Lamb lives near the girl’s home and has been helping in the search since Sunday, “I’m searching the side of the roads. I mean, what else could he have done with her?”

Lamb has been driving the back roads close to where John Cornell’s body was discovered, “And something like this? It usually don’t happen around this area. You always hear it in the big cities, but not here.”

If you have information on where Sidney Nicole Randall may be, call the Walnut Ridge Police Department at 870-886-2525.